Who says smoking is bad for your health? Let’s see, there’s the Surgeon General, the American Legacy Foundation and cigarette companies themselves, in those warnings on the sides of packs. But don’t believe it! Just ask “Zippo Owner” of Garland, Texas, whose tale is featured as part of the lighter company’s 75th anniversary print and online ad campaign, called Zippo Stories. He writes: “We were deployed along the Vietnam/Cambodian border. ... During the ensuing firefight, I thought I had been shot when I felt a powerful hit on the left side of my chest.” Guess what? He survived because “my Zippo had been in my left shirt pocket and had taken a direct hit from an AK-47 round!” There’s no way to check the veracity of that story, but I’m sure a company that makes cigarette lighters would never dream of making it up. Zippo’s inviting consumers to submit stories of their own. Here’s mine: I was trying to hail a cab when some guy lit up with a Zippo and blew smoke in my face, and as I was coughing, he climbed into my cab and drove away. True story? You never know!

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Who says smoking is bad for your health? Let’s see, there’s the Surgeon General, the American Legacy Foundation and cigarette companies themselves, in those warnings on the sides of packs. But don’t believe it! Just ask “Zippo Owner” of Garland, Texas, whose tale is featured as part of the lighter company’s 75th anniversary print and online ad campaign, called Zippo Stories. He writes: “We were deployed along the Vietnam/Cambodian border. ... During the ensuing firefight, I thought I had been shot when I felt a powerful hit on the left side of my chest.” Guess what? He survived because “my Zippo had been in my left shirt pocket and had taken a direct hit from an AK-47 round!” There’s no way to check the veracity of that story, but I’m sure a company that makes cigarette lighters would never dream of making it up. Zippo’s inviting consumers to submit stories of their own. Here’s mine: I was trying to hail a cab when some guy lit up with a Zippo and blew smoke in my face, and as I was coughing, he climbed into my cab and drove away. True story? You never know!